Let’s hear the Good News
Wouldn’t it be great if the headlines coming out of this General Assembly are inspiring and bold, about commitments to expanding participation in God’s mission and to growing God’s church? Good News. It’s possible.
Latest Posts
A more excellent way
Recommendation 5 of the Report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church was designed to help cushion the damaging effects of controversy in the church.
Trust and the Authoritative Interpretation of G-6.0108
Trust is increasingly raised as an issue in our denomination. For instance, those who oppose the proposed Form of Government are saying that where trust is a problem, as it is in the church now, we should not reduce the rules under which we operate in favor of greater discretion.
The priority for this General Assembly
This coming General Assembly can correct a false categorical declaration the Assembly made in 1978 — “that the practice of homosexuality is sin.”
Sex a better way
The Presbyterian Outlook cover picture of a closing door (March 10 issue) does capture the immediate and frankly sad meaning of the February judicial decision about fidelity and chastity in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), but not all of it.
How is it when you come together?
I was newly ordained, and the opportunity to attend my first national assembly was no small thing. We rented the largest car we could, and piled in as many of our leaders as would reasonably fit, so several of us could go to the convention.
Guest Viewpoint: Presbyterian Essentials
I didn’t grow up in a family of faith, much less in the Presbyterian tradition. I grew up in a Northern California town with only one church, a community church.
Guest Viewpoint: You know you are a PK if …
Editor’s Note: The author wrote the following article in response to Agnes Norfleet’s Benedictory column, “Thank God for PKs” in the March 10, 2008, Outlook.
Revisions to “Vigilance against Anti-Jewish Ideas and Bias” unleashes criticism and support
Revisions to the statement, “Vigilance against Anti-Jewish Ideas and Bias,” prepared by the Office of Interfaith Relations of the PCUSA, have drawn sharp criticism from three American Synagogue leaders.
General Assembly Summary Report
A popular service is available again! Prepared by our award-wining news team this half-page (both sides) summary of key events is ideal..
A gospel purpose: Linda Valentine reflects on two years as executive
LOUISVILLE — Halfway through her first four-year term, General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Director Linda Valentine is already eager for more.
15 semifinalists announced in Youth Video Challenge; finals at GA
JEFFERSONVILLE, IND — Fifteen semi-finalists have been announced in the inaugural Youth Video Challenge sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation on its social networking site, ymiLIVE.org
Presbyterian Foundation praises Synod withdrawal of Overture-85
Jan DeVries, Synod executive for the Synod of the Southwest notified the Presbyterian Foundation June 4 that the Synod had voted to withdraw its proposed Overture 85 from the 218th GA agenda. The leadership of the Presbyterian Foundation responded with a statement in appreciation of the Synod's decision.
Bob Leech, President and CEO of the Foundation was encouraged by the decision of Conrad Rocha, Synod Moderator and the Rev. DeVries to recommend a withdrawal of the overture from the GA's business agenda and the Synod's subsequent vote to affirm such action.
Getting to know us
When I told some New York friends recently that Memorial Day weekend would find me eating fried chicken in the Paddock at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, watching the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, they were shocked.
Response from the Right
We have not yet met but I look forward to greeting you (N. Scott Cupp). Already I am in your debt. You gave the time to listen to my speech repeatedly and the time to write a response. Further you say you found it very interesting and are appreciative of much that it says. Add to this my ready admission that listening to the speech cannot have been a pleasant experience if one identifies ones self with the progressive camp. Thank you for your grace.
Questions from the Left
Ever since the November article in the Layman quoting you (Jerry Andrews) from Gathering X came out, I have wrestled with whether or not to write in response to that article. I then listened to your speech (several times) … and I appreciated much of what you had to say. Recognizing that it was intended to buck up the troops, it left many questions unanswered for those who were not there and yet were painted by your broad brush.
Advice and counsel: A pre-Assembly dialogue
Editor’s Note: In order to help overview peacemaking, justice and environmental initiatives coming before the General Assembly, the Outlook invited Ron Kernaghan of Fuller Seminary, co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) and Chris Iosso, coordinator of ACSWP, to allow our readers to listen in to a conversation between them on the related proposed legislation.
The new “Social Creed for the 21st Century”
This year we observe the hundredth anniversary of the so-called “Social Creed of the Churches,” adopted in 1908 at the founding of the Federal Council of Churches. Frank Mason North, who in 1904 had written the hymn “Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life,” proposed it. Charles Stelzle, a Presbyterian engaged in ministry to working people in New York, seconded the motion.
Moderator candidates discuss issues at New Jersey forums
The four declared candidates for moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008) were together for the first time in two back-to-back forums on April 25 held at Presbyterian-related Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, N.J., and Lawrenceville Church in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Check it out… It’s our all new blogging system!
Well, this is our all new blogging system. I hope you all like it. Please check out the link to My Blog..
An Open Letter to Our Next Moderator and Stated Clerk
By way of disclosure, I am well into my 74th year, and have been a Presbyterian all of my life, first in the old Northern church, then the United Church in the North, then the old Southern Church, then the Northern Church (in the South), the Southern Church (in the almost North), and finally our present Presbyterian denomination. I have served as a deacon in two of those denominations, and a pastor in three of them. I was raised in a congregation with history that stretched back to the early 1700s, and in my teenage years I was
Differentism
"Women Blaze an Interfaith Trail: Two teachers become first Jewish female and first Muslim female to receive advanced degrees from Catholic Theological Union," and "She's First Jewish Graduate of Catholic Theological Union" were headlines in The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times on May 15.
Guest viewpoint: Can I get a witness to love?
On May 15 the California Supreme Court affirmed the rights of same gender couples to the legal protections and responsibilities of marriage. Not coincidentally, in 1948 it was the California Supreme Court that first extended equal protections to interracial couples — a full sixty years ago, twenty years before Loving v. Virginia declared all miscegenation laws unconstitutional. The ruling will go into effect thirty days after the decision.
Judicial Commission says Spahr did not violate the church constitution
The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) has ruled that Jane Adams Spahr, a California minister, did not violate the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by performing two “ecclesiastical” wedding ceremonies for lesbian couples.
One mission, one budget
An overture to this year’s General Assembly from Grace Presbytery is raising questions about the continued use of the General Assembly Per Capita Assessment as part of the church’s mission funding system.
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